Site Event/Activity record ECH5956 - Archaeological Evaluation at Black Friars, Chester July 2014

Archaeological evaluation carried out at Land at Black Friars, to assess the archaeological potential of the site. Two trenches were excavated, one at the Black Friars frontage (north) of the site and one at the rear. Trench 1 revealed 19th century foudnations overlying thick deposits of clay loam containing occasional Roman, Medieval and post medieval ceramics. These soils probably built up when area was open land or gardens as shown on historics maps. At the base of the tench, overlying natural, was a layer of Roman Building rubble ( at a depth of 1.35m) this suggests that a Roman building stood on or near the site. Trnch 2 also had 19th cnetury brickwork overlying thick mixed clay loam deposits. However no Roman deposits were recorded and natural clay was not reached. Further work likely to be required to mitigate impact of any development proposals on surviving deposits, either excavation or watching brief.